Action for pianos



(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets Sheet 2. P. W. KRI NGEL. ACTION FOR PIANOS.

No. 517,951 Patented Apr 1O01894.

Wimmna.

5%. v M W MW/ I W W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. KRINGEL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

ACTION FOR PIANOS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,951, dated April 10, 18940 Application filed April 29, 1898.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

1 3e it known that I, FRANK W. KRINGEL, a citizen of the. United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Repeating-Action and Touch-Regulator for Upright Pianos, of which the following 1s a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a repeating action for upright pianos which will instantly return into position to deliver arepeating stroke to the hammer as soon as the key is released by the operator and starts to return to its normal position, so that the same note may be repeated as rapidly and forcibly as it can be upon a grand piano.

A further object of my invention is to pro- Vlde an improved touch regulating device for use with my repeating action, whereby the weight of the touch of the piano may be quickly and accurately regulated to suit the taste of the performer, and which will give what is known as the weight touch in contra-distinction to the spring touch, which is objectionable to most pianists.

My invention comprises the combination of a key lever arranged to engage a jack rocker; such jack rocker having oneend pivoted to the'action rail of the piano and having its other end pivoted to a main jack; such main jack pivoted at its lower end to the jack rocker and having its upper end provided with an oifset and with a shoulder projecting above such offset; a supplemental jack pivoted to the main jack in such offset having its axis normally parallel with the axis of the jack and arranged to normally rest against the shoulder of the main jack, and having its upper end provided with a transverse slot arranged to receive a transverse hammer butt pin; a hammer butt pivoted by one side to the action rail and having its other side provided with a transverse pin arranged to enter the transverse slot in the supplemental jack; a suitable throw-off arranged to engage the jack to cause the jack and the supplemental jack to assume an angle with each other; a suitable stop arranged to engage the jack when the jack is engaged by the throwoff, and suitable yielding means arranged to Serial No. 472,403- (Ilo model.)

normally hold the supplemental jack against the shoulder of the main jack.

My invention also comprises the combination of a key lever arranged to engage a jack rocker; such jack rocker pivoted at one end to the action rail and pivoted at its other end to a jack and provided below the pivotal point of the jack with a spring receiving shoulder; such jack pivoted near its lower end to the jack rocker and provided with a downwardly projecting spring engaging arm and also provided with an outwardly projecting throw-off shoulder arranged to engage the regulating button, and provided at its top with a supplemental-j ack-receivin g offset and a supplemental-jack-engaging shoulder projecting above such offset; asupplementaljack pivoted at its lower end to the jack and arranged to be normally engaged by the shoulder of the jack and having its upper end provided with a longitudinal transverse slot arranged to receive a transverse pin arranged in thehammer butt; a hammer butt pivoted by one side to the action rail and having its other side provided with a transverse pin adapted to enter vthe transverse slot in the supplemental jack; a suitable stop arranged to engage the jack when the jack is engaged by the throw-off, and a spring arranged between the spring sustaining shoulder of the jack rocker and the downwardly projecting spring engaging arm of the jack to normally hold the supplemental jack engaging shoulder against the supplemental jack.

My invention also comprises the combination of a keylever arranged to engage a jack rocker; such jack rocker pivoted at one end to the action rail of the piano and pivoted at its other end to the jack; such jack operatively connected with the hammer butt; a touch regulating bar arranged to slide back and forth above such jack rocker longitudinal of such jack rocker and provided with a vertical weight guide arm receiving guideway; a suitable weight adapted and arranged to rest upon the jack rocker and provided with an upwardly projecting guide arm arranged to slide in the vertical guideway provided in the regulating bar, and arranged in such guideway; and suitable means arranged to slide the regulating bar back and forth longitudinal of the jack rocker to carry the weight nearer to or farther from the jack.

My invention further comprises various other combinationsand arrangements of parts hereinafter fully set forth.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved repeating action in its normal position; parts of the frame of the piano are shown in section and a fragment of the end of one key is arranged in position beneath the jack rocker. Fig. 2 is a fragmental front view of my improved touch regulating bar with two jack rockers having two touch regulating weights arranged thereupon; the jacks are removed from the rockers for clearness of illustration. Fig. 3 is a fragmental detail of my improved touch regulating bar, the two members being separated from each other and the cap piece of the bar being reversed to expose the arrangement of the bushing Fig. 4 is a plan View of a fragment of the touch regulating bar showing the two members secured together by gluing. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of my improved repeating action and touch regulator showing the parts in position just after a stroke has been delivered, and before they have started to return to their normal position, shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a fragmental side elevation of parts of an action, illustrating a modified form of my adjustable jack stop.

In the drawings A represents the key lever of the piano. Bis a jack rocker which is pivoted at its rear end to the action rail 0 of the piano by a suitable pivot c; the upper and lower faces of the jack rocker are respectively covered with felt b b. To the front end of the jack rocker B is pivoted the jack D which is provided with a forwardly projecting throw-off arm d which is arranged to engage the regulating button E; the jack D is provided at its upper end with an offset D and a suitable shoulder (1' which extends upward beyond the offset pivot fto form a rest or stop to engage the supplemental jack F to hold the supplemental jack and the main jack normally in line with each other. A suitable spring H is provided to normally yieldingly hold the supplemental jack F in engagement with the shoulder d of the jack.

The hammer butt G is pivoted at its rear side to the action rail K and is provided upon its .front side with a transverse pin G arranged to enter the slotf in the supplemental jack. The hammer butt is also provided with a jack stop L which is operatively connected with the hammer butt G by suitable means, such as the pivot Z, and has one end Z arranged to engage with the upper end of the jack D when the jack is forced toward the front by the action of the throw-off shoulder (Z engaging with the regulating button E, and prevents the jack from being thrown too far to the front; the other end Z of the stop L is engaged by a suitable stop regulating screw L which is arranged to adj ustably conmeet the stop with the hammer butt G; by loosening or tightening the adjusting screw L the stop may be adjusted to suit the op erator.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 6 the end Z" of the stop is formed of a wire shank which is inserted into a hole 2 (shown only in dotted lines) bored in the hammer butt, and is attached to the hammer butt bya screw L arranged to engage the end Z" of the stop to adjustably connect the stop with the hammer butt. The stop is adjusted by loosening the screw L to release the end Z" so it may be movedin the hole 2 to adjust the stop to the desired position. When adjusted, the screw L is tightened to secure the stop to the hammer butt.

My improved piano touch regulator consists of the weight bar M which is arranged to slide back and forth in the slide m which i is provided in the action supporting brackets N and is provided with a serieslof weight arm receiving guideways m which are each adapted and arranged to receive weight arms therein and to allow such weight arms to slide up and down therethrough. The weights 0 are each arranged to rest upon its respective jack rocker and are each provided with the weight arm 0 which is arranged to slide in the weight arm receiving guideways m. Suitable means are provided for shifting the regulating bar M back and forth in the guidewaym to carry the weight 0' nearer to or farther from the jack 1); these means as indicated consisting of the actuating rod P journaled in the frame of the piano and provided with the upwardly projecting actuating leverparranged in a snitable perforation p in the regulating bar M.

P is an adj ustinglever arranged to operate the actuating lever 19 to slide the bar back and forth in the slide m, to thus shift the weights 0 along the jack rocker to regulate the touch to suit the operator; when a light touch is desired the bar M is slipped to the rear thus to carry the weights 0 farther away from the jack D and nearer the pivotal point e where the jack rocker is pivoted to the action rail 0. \Vhen a heavier touch is desired the Weights are thrown nearer to the jack and farther away from the pivotal point between the rocker and the action rail. The weight arm 0 slides upand down through the guideway m when the jack rocker isactuated by the key lever. My improved touch regulating bar whereby I am enabled to provide a series of guideways extending through i such bar each lined with felt to form a noiseless slot for the weight arm 0 of the touch regulating weight 0 to slide in, consists of the main memberM'providedalongitslength upon one side witha series of grooves m which are respectively lined upon the back and sides with felt or bushing m" adapted to embrace three sides of the weight arm 0, and the supplemental or cap piece M" arranged to fit upon the main member and provided with a series of strips of felt m' ar-' ranged respectively in slots in the cap piece corresponding to the slots in the main .memher, and to respectively close the open sides of such slots. By this arrangement the felt may be applied to the slots without difficulty and the two members glued togethenthus producing a cheap, neat and efficient regulzltting bar for touch regulating devices of this 0 ass.

My improved piano bracket N is provided with a horizontally arranged slot an adapted to form a guideway to receive the weight regulating bariM therein to allow such bar to slide back and forth in such guideway to carry 1t longitudinally of the jack rocker, and relatively nearer to or farther from the jack.

In operation when the key lever is actuated by the performer striking upon the key it operates upon the jack rocker B to force such rocker upward; the jack rocker Bswings upon 1tS- plV 0.lZ c and forces the jack D upward, which in turn operates upon the supplemental ack F and the hammer butt G to force the hammer I against the strings J; when the throw-off arm (1 engages the regulating button E, It operates to compress the spring H and to throw the upper end of the jack toward the front, and the jack is forced outward until it engages with the stop Lthus causing the jackDand the supplemental jack to assume an angle with each other; the upper llrnit of movement of the jack lever is not sufficient to carry the hammer I against the string J, but the momentum of the hammer carries it to the rear until it strikes against the string in the usual manner. The slot f in the supplemental jackallows' the pin G sufficient latitude of movement to permit the hammer to strike forcibly against the string. As soon as the pressure upon the key lever A is removed and the jack rocker B starts to descend, the throw-off arm d is released from its engagement with the throw-off button E and the spring H forces the jack D and the supplemental jack F back into line with each other as shown in Fig. 1 and the stroke may be repeated as soon as the throw-off shoulder d is released from the throw-off button E, without waiting until the lever A is fully returned to its normal position.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is t 1. A repeating action for piano-fortes comprising in combination a jack, a hammer-butt, and asupplemental jack arranged to form an extensible pivotal connection between the jack and the hammer-butt.

2. A repeating action for piano-fortes comprising in combination a jack, a transversely slotted supplemental jack pivoted to the jack and a hammer-butt provided with a pin arranged to play in the transverse slot of the supplemental jack.

' 3. The combination of a key lever arranged to engage a jack rocker; such jack rocker pivoted at one end to the action rail and pivoted at its other end to the jack and provided below the pivotal point of the jack with. a spring receiving shoulder; a jack pivoted near its lower end to the jack rocker and provided with a downwardly projecting spring engaging arm, and also provided with an outwardly projecting throw -off shoulder arranged to engage the regulating button and provided at its top with a supplemental-jackreceiving offset and a supplemental-jack-engaging shoulder projecting above such offset; a supplemental jack pivoted at its lower end to the jack and arranged normally in engagement with the shoulder of v the jack and having its upper end provided with a longitudinal transverse slot arranged to receive a transverse pin; a hammer butt pivoted to the action rail and having its other side provided with a transverse pin adapted to enter the transverse slot in the supplemental jack; a suitable stop arranged to engage the jack when the jack is engaged by the throw-off, and a spring arranged between the spring sustaining shoulder of the jack rocker and the downwardly projecting spring engaging arm of the jack to normally hold the supplemental jack in engagement with the shoulder of the jack.

l. The combination of the key lever arranged to engage the jack rocker; such jack rocker pivoted at one end to the action rail and pivoted at its other end to the jack; such jack having one end pivoted to the jack rocker and having its other end operatively connected with the hammer butt; the touch regulating bar arranged to slide back and forth above such jack rocker and provided with the vertical weight'arm receiving guideway arranged to receive a weight arm and adapted to allow such arm to slide up and down through the bar; a suitable weightarranged to rest upon the jack rocker and provided with the weight arm arranged in the guideway provided in the bar, and suitable means arranged to slide the regulating bar back and forth longitudinal the jack rocker to carry the weight nearer to or farther from the jack.

5. In an action for upright pianos the combination of the hammer butt; the jack operatively connected with the hammer butt and with the key lever; the jack stop having one end arranged to engage the jack and having its otherend engaged bya screw arranged to adj ustably connect the stop with the hammer butt.

6. In a piano action, thehammer butt having a jack stop pivoted thereto, one end of such stop being arranged to engage the jack and the other end being provided with an adjusting screw arranged to engage the hammer butt to adjust the stop with relation to such hammer butt.

7. The touch regulating bar set forth consisting of the main member provided with a series of slots each lined upon the back and sides'with felt, and the cap member secured e two members are 'SGCltl'QditO:

set forth provided with the horizontally arranged guide way adapted and alrrange'dto receive gt weigh]: I e'grelatively Witnesses: I

ALFRED I. T WNSEEP;;. 

